Infinite Horizons
by TheSoulWritesWords
Summary: It's a big bad world out there. But now that she has found her father and with all of Time and space at her fingertips, Jenny discovers it's a far bigger, badder and more beautiful world than she thought. Infinity series Book 2
1. Chapter 1

**So, finally here we are! I know it's been ages, but this chapter was really tricky. Hopefully the next ones will be sooner. Thank you for your patience readers! Constructive criticism welcome! I love to know what you think. **

**The first step**

"_If I didn't know you I would say I don't know you."_

_Jaime Cabrera_

Jenny perches on the jump seat, watching him.

The ship is still now-he said it means they are settled in the vortex. He's tall and thin and moved around the controls as if he was whirling a bizarre dance. He keeps looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She is uneasy to find that she is unsure of herself. Jenny doesn't know what to make of him. She's glad, _so glad_, to have found the Doctor, but as for _him_….he's not exactly who she had been looking for.

Jenny suddenly realizes something. "But-did-won't he be looking for me?"

"Who?" He pauses to frown at her in confusion.

"I mean-if I'm here now, but you're-he's," she stumbles. "The younger you…"

His expression clears, softening into something quiet and strangely sad. "No, Jenny. I'm not looking for you. I-he-thinks you're dead." His eyes distance for a moment "I've thought you dead a very long time."

"What…? But it was only two years ago that-you're a time traveller." She remembers.

"It's been almost two centuries for me. I regenerated."

"Two _centuries?!_ But how can you be-" Jenny is astounded. "Wait-" She pauses then suddenly to stare at him. "Is that what it is-regeneration?"

The Doctor stares at her. Stupid, stupid-of course she doesn't know-

Impatience or disbelief was common for the Doctor whenever people weren't keeping up with what he was saying-which was often, bless their little human minds. But he's never felt so flustered, or _intimidated_ by it-because it suddenly _matters. _Then again, as the last of his species, he never expected to be holding the enormous weight of an entire culture and history of his people on his shoulders for someone else to actually inherit.

Jenny is frowning at him. "…Doctor?" She watches him, eyes bright with determination and excitement, expectant.

Oh.

He doesn't-he's never _taught_ people before-how-

These vast gaps in Jenny's knowledge, fundamental to her as a species, fell to him to patch up. Every fact, each piece of information, every quote, every tradition, each tiny nuance. From the evolution of Time Lords as a species to what had been popular for breakfast-it was all the Doctor's responsibility now (one of the very things, some might say, saw him leave Gallifrey in the first place). He couldn't wave a hand, or smile patronisingly or feed her half-truths. He had to go slowly, be sure she understood what he taught her, be patient in face of her questions-

He comes and leans on the console in front of her. "Um, right. Sorry. Okay. It's… TimeLords…have this ability to change themselves. Face, body, personality…. There's only a certain amount of times they can regenerate-twelve, so that's thirteen incarnations, yes?"

"That's why you're…like this now." Jenny nods, studying him intently, trying to match this different appearance in front of her as the same man.

"It's a survival mechanism against injury…and death, providing it happens at the right time."

"But…" She shakes her head, trying to word it. "If you change your personality and-You're-" she gestures at him "totally different…How can you be the same person? How are you still… _the Doctor_?" She's frowning.

"Maybe…not the same _person_…But I'm still….me." He trails off lamely. It just always seems to take them time, to see that he is the same man, instead of just explaining it. The Doctor turns to busy himself with the controls. Giver her bit of space, let her think it out-and he's surprised at how hurt he feels, seeing her so wary and mistrusting.

"You-You're the Doctor? I mean-you remember it all?" Jenny asks quietly.

The Doctor turns back to her. She fidgets one hand, nearly bites her lip-but she meets his gaze strongly. A challenge. "Yes. And he is me. I was him. It's all still there." he touches his temple briefly.

Jenny nods, once. He's so _earnest._ He couldn't be lying, Jenny can see how much he clearly seems to care and wants her to feel at ease. She can't disappoint him. But he's so…she shouldn't trust him-she doesn't-yet, there's something about him-

"I think…I knew it was you, before." Jenny realizes thoughtfully.

"Time lord biology. You recognised that you knew me. Even though you had never seen this body before. It's so we can keep track, as such."

"It's why I didn't run." Jenny realizes.

"Exactly. You wanted to, but it was instinct."

Jenny nods slowly.

"-But you can't have regenerated, you look the same…" He manages to restrain himself from asking her more about it-let her figure _him_ out first. The Doctor suddenly pauses to gaze at her. "You're beautiful. Oh, look at you."

Jenny looks at him, deep blue eyes scanning him, nearly dark in a pale face and silvery blond hair. Her mouth is just uplifted a little, puzzled and almost amused by his delight.

She shrugs "I just sort of woke up like this…"

A wild laugh rushes out of his chest. Only she could be so nonchalant about waking up from a seemingly fatal gunshot wound. Jenny's eyebrows come down in a frown-he realizes he's staring at her, smiling hugely, looking enthralled.

"It doesn't matter though-Oh, let me see you!" he reaches out to her shoulders-then suddenly frowns, straightening to pull back slightly. The change in his demeanour is so strange, Jenny finds herself standing, fists clenching.

"What?" she wonders.

"What happened? Who did this?" He reaches out to her and gently touches her temple, igniting a pain she didn't even realize was there.

"Oh-I nearly got away from those two earlier, but they caught me up…"She trails off under a burning thing growing in his eyes. Fury.

"He hit you."

Jenny shrugs uncertainly. She finds herself unable to keep eye contact, even though she knows his anger isn't directed at her. There's something in his eyes…

"With what?" his voice is low.

"The butt of his Patron."

"Does it hurt?"

"It's fine." It's true, it doesn't really, but for some reason her voice isn't as strong as she likes.

And again, he suddenly switches. He pulls back from her, face softening and anger fading, to look oddly crestfallen and guilty.

"Sorry, Jenny. I didn't mean to scare you."

She opens her mouth to deny it, then stands there uneasily, realizing he's right.

He nearly looks a if he wants to say something, then abruptly leaps away from the console, a bright smile suddenly in place of the anger and grief. Jenny blinks, baffled by the sudden change in demeanour. She doesn't like feeling one step behind all the time. He's so _strange_…

"Right-now, you look dead on your feet!" he whirls and bounces up the steps with a grin. Jenny is still trying to work out what he means by that-she most certainly isn't dead and she couldn't stand even if she was-when the Doctor beckons to her.

"I'd say the TARDIS will have a room ready for you."

Jenny follows him as they set off through the hallways. As they walk she can't help glancing at him, watching the man beside her. He's so young-but yet…not. He must be aware of her scrutiny, yet he says nothing, never looks at her, gives Jenny the space to make her study.

He's not a young man, it's clear somehow. Just like the way he looked at her in that cell…as if he seen a lot. He certainly seemed to have a lot of military knowledge, from what Jenny saw on Messaline.

They come to a stop outside a cream wooden door, curious circular patterns carved into the face. Jenny looks on down the corridor (She hopes she can go exploring) and then opens it at the Doctor's eager nod.

Amused at how awed she seems, he watches Jenny cross the room, touch the bed briefly and then moves to examine the chest of drawers and the wardrobe.

"It's very big." His daughter (he's never going to tire of that), turns back to him sounding endearingly doubtful, and he laughs.

"It's all yours, Jenny. It's nice-sized; cosy." Not the best description, he realizes. It must seem very excessive and odd to someone used to military-issue bunks and tiny rooms, bare of nearly all creature comforts.

"All mine…" she repeats quietly to herself, then whirls to grin at him. "Thank you!"

"Of course. I didn't do any of it though. She always gets it right…" he adds affectionately, patting the doorframe. The TARDIS hums and Jenny's eyes widen.

"The ship-the TARDIS did all of this?" he nods, amused as her awe returns.

"Um. Thank you….TARDIS?" she tries, and this time the light flares.

The Doctor smiles as he watches her sit on the bed, seemingly unable to resist giving a little bounce. It fades as he remembers there is something very important he hasn't said.

"Jenny. I'm sorry. _I'm sorry_. For…all of it." he continues, looking wretched. Jenny meets his eyes now, and she looks at him. Trying to see him, equate to the man she has been searching for. The Doctor gazes back, hoping she knows how sorry he is, and how much he cares. He would do_ better_. This was a second chance, he never gets those; He should have been better the first time-_It needed to be said_. He should have-

"It's not your fault." Jenny offers. He looks so guilty. "I mean, you thought I was dead, there was a funeral-" The Doctor shakes his head almost violently, mouth a tight line, jaw clenched. She hesitates, then changes the subject as a thought occurs to her. "What did you do, after Messaline?"

He blinks at her; she must have interrupted a thought-then comes further into the room and sits on the chair by the wardrobe.

"-What about Donna, and Martha? Your friends!" Jenny suddenly remembers and is not prepared for the way his eyes hollow and the grief in his face-only a flash-before it's gone.

"They….stopped travelling after that."

Jenny hesitates, desperate to know more, then says instead "Can I look around?" -maybe she's not meant to know.

"Of course! You need to get acquainted!" the Doctor bounces up again and to the door-his sudden mood changes and energy are hard to keep up with-and points down the corridor to the left. "The Wardrobe is that way, and you might come across the kitchen. And the pool-"

"What-?" Jenny stares. A kitchen and a _pool_?

"And I think I have three studies now…" he continues.

"Don't you know?"

"They come and go, she moves them around a lot." He says vaguely.

"How big is this ship?" Jenny interrupts in amazement.

"The TARDIS is infinite." The Doctor pauses to look at her as if something occurs to him. "Do you want me to show you around?"

"How will I know how to find that central room?" The prospect of a little time to herself is suddenly appealing.

"The console room? The TARDIS will guide you back."

"I should be okay then." She glances at him, hoping she hasn't disappointed him, but he beams.

"Plenty of time to show her off!" he whispers and turns away, then suddenly whirls about again. "Are you hungry?"

"Um-" he really does move fast, mentally and physically.

"I'll make you something!" he sets off again. Jenny watches after him a moment as he strides away.

The other…him was sort of steady and graceful and calm. He is manically expressive and exuberant in his physicality and he speaks as if each word is trying to reach a finish line. It's…_a lot._ Jenny turns down the corridor, taking everything in with curious eyes and stopping at every door she finds.

* * *

><p>Jenny stirs, and slowly blinks awake.<p>

She lies there for a moment, letting sleep fade. There's something different. The room is quiet, in a comfortable way. And she feels so relaxed-

The TARDIS. Jenny is suddenly wide-awake as she sits up. She's on the Doctor's ship. Her father.

She found him.

It's not the waking up in a strange place, she's used to that. She just still can't believe it. There is her familiar knapsack is on the floor by the wardrobe, dusty and with a few straggling threads, in her room, in her father's ship.

The Doctor.

Jenny leans back against the headboard. She has seen absolutely no trace of the man she met on Messaline. Except the memories. His mood swings are hard to keep up with and it was almost dizzying watching him dance around the console. He was definitely more…mad than the other…him. But he cares, she thinks. He seems happy to have found her, too. Jenny looks around contemplatively as she sits up. Her room-that's odd too. She's never felt ownership, or even a sense of belonging in any of the places she was in, never mind a place she could call home. Although, this ship is unlike any she has ever seen-and she has a feeling that the maze of corridors she walked last night are only a fraction of it.

Jenny swings out of the bed as she remembers he mentioned a wardrobe and wonders if there are any clothes she could borrow.

Being re united with Jenny was something the Doctor never even considered. He also never thought he'd be doing something so domestic and _house-y_ as laundry. And that he can't even get the machine to work.

"Why am I even _doing_ this?" he grumbles to himself. Why were there so many buttons just to wash _clothes_?

"You're much better at this than I am." He grouches to the TARDIS, in a poor attempt at flattery. Unimpressed, the ship deigns to make any response. The Doctor sighs, swings the round door shut, gives the machine a last glare, walks out of the room and firmly shuts the door. Surprised to find himself in the console room, he decides the TARDIS must be as happy with jenny's return as he was-he expected to be re-routed through various corridors for a while as punishment.

The TARDIS-The Doctor whirls suddenly, staring up to the ceiling with a look of dismayed guilt.

"Thank you." He murmurs, and bringing his hands up to the glass column, the Doctor leans his forehead to the surface. "_Efchan sei_, Mea'silan."

The TARDIS hums, the surface under his hands warming, and then he hears footsteps. The Doctor leans around the Rotor and there she is.

"Jenny!"

"Hello…Morning." She smiles, standing curiously on the stairs. "…What-who are you talking to?"

He chuckles. They _all_ ask him that. Although half of them never seemed to grasp the idea of his ship being fully sentient.

"The TARDIS." he tells her. Jenny comes down the steps, eyes roving the room intently. It occurs to the Doctor as he watches her that most of his companions never showed such powerful curiosity in the ship. Perhaps the physics of it were enough to try and accept, and the rest was beyond their understanding.

"The TARDIS? It can talk to you?"

"No. We…She can't speak or communicate like that. I'm connected to the TARDIS, mentally. But it's deeper then that. It's more instinctual, I feel what she wants to express." The Doctor pauses then abruptly, realizing he had never spoken of it this personally before.

Jenny is gazing at him in fascination.

"Like, in your mind? You can talk to her in your mind?"

"A telepathic symbiotic connection, yes. But not direct words."

"That's….wow. Weird." Jenny muses. "How can a ship-a machine-have a….mind? Like, she can think? You said she would…guide me somewhere."

"Oh, yes, if you ask nicely. But the TARDIS doesn't have a mind like we understand it, or even actual thought processes. Consciousness, yes, or a form of-but the TARDIS literally is…Time. Past, present, future. She…_perceives_ it all."

"What's a…symbiotic connection?"

"Molecular, genetic. We're linked on a cellular level. The controls," he gestures to the console, "are isomorphic."

"And, the….size?"

"Dimensionally Transcendant. One dimension fit inside another by distancing one from the other but keeping it stationary."

"Right." Jenny frowns over that but seems to decide against further questions.

The Doctor watches her as she studies the controls near her thoughtfully then widens her gaze to take in the interior, thinking it all out.

He claps his hands. "So, now that you're up, shall we take a trip? I thought about waking you to go to the annual Celstial storm on Rulan Serian, but we can go again, that's the beauty of Time travel!" He realizes his grin is stretching too large and he's gesturing with his hands but is unable to contain himself. _Jenny._

"So, it can travel in time?" Jenny turns to him with a curious grin rising.

"Anywhere and anywhen!"he confirms. He whirls to pull down the screen and then spins back to face Jenny. She grins gleefully, bouncing on the spot with excitement, blue eyes gleaming, smile dazzling.

"There's so _much_….um…Earth?"

"Earth it is! Do you want to know where and when?"

Jenny hesitates. "…No!" she decides quickly.

The Doctor beams and leans in to wink. "Better that way," he tells his daughter as she laughs, and the TARDIS rolls into flight

* * *

><p><strong>It's a bit short, but's it's just to see jenny's reaction. I thought she would feel a bit unsure and wary of him at some point, (he's essentially a stranger and Eleven definitely has a bit of a temper, I think.), so I think he probably can be intimidating. <strong>

**…and you may noticed this chapter has suddenly got a bit longer- I wasn't happy with it and it didn't work out for the structure in the next few chapters. :P**

**I'm going to try and keep the general…feel of this story canon, but there is obviosly AU stuff. All the Gallifreyan/TimeLord history stuff really gets my imagination and the creativity going, so I'm putting Gallifrayan into this.**

**Efchan sei-thank you**

**Mea'silan-respectful address for a distinguished figure, and dear female friend.**

**Grá,**

**TheSoul.**

**P.S reviews are, like, the best thing ever :)**


	2. Eireann Part 1

**Thank you for your patience, dear readers! Here's the next chapter, finally!**

**Quick note about structure; The story 'Infinite Horizons' is like a 'season', and within it there's lots of different stories happening, that may only be one or a few chapters long. This is going to be an 'episode' of two chapters. In between, there may be sort of 'stand alone' chapters, as such….Okay, rambling done!**

**-Tír na nÓG (**_**Teer-na-no-guh)**_** is a popular Irish fairytale/myth. It's one of the classics, if you're curious, look it up, wwaaay too long to say here!**

**Also, this is set after the end of Series 5, but before Series 6. You'll see exactly in later in chapters, I've played with some of the timelines a bit.**

**To Eireann **

**Part 1  
><strong>

Jenny stares, unable to find words for the scape before them. Slack jawed and wide eyed, she stopped to stare, and the Doctor gently nudges her aside as he steps out of the TARDIS and shuts the door.

"Oh." Puzzled, Jenny turns to look at him. "I've been here before," he adds at her questioning look. "ages ago, but still…" he sounds vaguely disappointed.

"It's amazing!" Jenny shakes her head.

They are on the edge of the world. Standing in the middle of an ocean. Stretching out to the curve of the horizon. She looks down, a near vertical drop of craggy black rock and grassy outcrops, and the swing of vertigo makes her start. She can't believe how high they are, in the middle of a vast expanse of water.

"This is incredible." She breathes. "Where are we?"

"This," The Doctor announces, slinging an arm over her shoulder, "is Skellig Michael. Limestone, almost 54 acres if you squashed it out. It's 6oo feet above sea level, with two peaks. And that," he points to far off green headland, "nine miles away, is County Kerry, on the West coast of Ireland." He turns and starts moving down the slope.

Jenny turns again in astonishment. Over to the left, there is another high peak, topped with steep craggy rocks, although the top seems quite broad and flat. The police box is perched in a slight hollow, on a pinnacle of flat ground that falls sharply away near where she is standing. The slope and surface under her feet is surprisingly green with clover. She turns again slowly to take in the panoramic view. The Doctor is making his way down the side of the…mountain to an uneven pale gray slash against the green, and Jenny realizes they are steps.

She follows after him, trying to watch her feet and take in the incredible view around them at the same time. She is jarred out of her wonder when a stone skitters away from under her foot, and she pauses. Below, the Doctor calls back, "If you fall off I am _not_ going after you!" but Jenny sees him look back up to her as she makes her way to him, obviously not truly annoyed. The steps are carved and uneven, sloping down in front of her, and climbing steeply behind as she looks out at the sea.

"Sorry, sir, I should have been watching where I was going, but-"

"_Sir?_" Startled, Jenny looks at him as the Doctor interrupts her suddenly. He looks taken aback, even wounded. "You don't have to call me sir, Jenny. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Yes sir-sorry….Father."

"Right. No calling you sir, then." She grins. "_Sir."_

He beams and wags a finger at her, and they start to climb.

Eventually they reach a wall made of stones all slotted together, with an entrance, like an enclosure. Jenny stares in surprise as they round the final corkscrew and come level with it. "Was this an outpost?" There are curious constructions like rounded stone huts huddled inside the wall on a sort of two-level terrace.

"No, a Monastic settlement, thousands of years ago."

"Monastic?"

"Where something is built in religious worship or devotion of gods or a god, in this case Christianity." Jenny decides not to ask what that is, although presumably some form of religion. She turns to look over as the Doctor continues, "But you haven't asked the most important question yet."

Jenny frowns curiously at him, and moves to join him. "…_Why_ are we here?" she tries.

The Doctor turns to grin at her. "Now you've got it!" he winks and holds out his hand. "let's go find out, shall we?"

"This is two thousand years old? And it's still so intact…." Jenny ducks low as she moves out into the open and turns to run her hand over the stones. The tiny beehive hut with its domed roof and slightly curved sides, is just over her head at it's highest point. The stones are testament to the builders; blocky and smooth, each one fits perfectly without cement and the inside is completely dry.

"Well, I'm nearly two thousand years old, don't see me falling apart do you?"

Jenny turns to stare at the Doctor. 'You're what?" _Two thousand?_

"It's not that old!" he looks vaguely affronted.

"No, I mean-that's-is that how long…..Time Lords live for, then?

He laughs suddenly. "Oh, bless you, no." The Doctor takes in her slightly surprised face, and it jolts him with a reminder-she knows nothing. "Each _regeneration_ could live for at least that long. By Time Lord standards I've been very….lax. Burning the candle at both ends.." he mutters.

He watches Jenny a moment, as she stands and frowns, the incomprehension bright in her face. He smiles to himself, suddenly touched at her child-like puzzlement. The Doctor turns to shade his face with a hand to look out again.

"I think there's something strange going on temporally. I noticed when we stepped out of the TARDIS- I'd say we have about an hour before it gets here. Tourists."

The Doctor hops down the steps to stand and look out over the sea, the low stone wall edging the terrace level with his knees. Jenny realizes that she is staring at him, trying to imagine that _age_-all the things he must have seen, all the events and changes that could happen in that length of time…and how old had he been then, when she first saw him out the Machine?

"What's temporally?"

"Time, the temporal dimensions….." he answers her absently as he revolves a slow circle, the sonic screwdriver out in front of him.

She moves away and continues around the side of the hut. There are four more of roughly the size. A gull, drifting on the breeze, comes gliding up to hang near her. Jenny admires it as it banks away, tilting into a dive to the waves far below. As she goes back to join the Doctor at his vantage point, a movement on the far peak catches her eye. Puzzled, she shades her eyes and watches a shape move along the steep crags, suddenly clearer and dark against the grass, she can make it out more clearly.

"Hey, father," She calls, coming down the steps "there was a-What?" she stops to look at him oddly. He has turned around, a strange smile on his face.

"Nothing-you said father." He says suddenly. "Sorry, carry on."

Jenny turns and points up again, squinting a little against the sun. "There was a goat up there."

"Can't have been, there are no animals here except birds." He says absently, turned back to watching the speck of boat on the waves.

"It was a _goat_! It was black, with long horns and-"

"What?" Jenny blinks as the Doctor whirls to look at her. He's alarmed. "What did you say?"

"It was black. With long curly horns-"

"-Did it see you?" his eyes are intent as he moves closer in front of her.

"I-Well, I don't know….I saw _it_, but it's a goat, it was kind of hard to tell what it was looking at." Puzzled, Jenny watches the Doctor's face turn grim.

"Where was it?" he turns a slow circle, sonic screwdriver held high.

"Up that sort of peak, way over there. I was behind the beehive huts," Jenny tells him, watching in bewilderment. "Is something wrong?"

"It's not a goat." He answers tersely.

"I don't understand-"

"It's a Púca."

"Pooka?"

"A Púca, a shape shifter. One of the Faerie folk, or _Aes Sídhe_. They've existed in Irish folkloore and Mythology for thousands of years, as Pagan beliefs, and persevered for a while after Christianity. As usual in 'legends' there's usually a grain of truth to them, but I thought they were all but extinct by now…."  
>'Ok," Jenny says slowly. There was an awful lot she didn't understand, but she got the gist. "So, the…Púca is a Faerie that turns into a goat? Why is it bad that I saw it?"<p>

"They can be quite…unfriendly. Not always," he adds quickly "and there are many more who were esteemed characters, protectors of travellers and the like, but Púca were always regarded a little warily."

"But why is it bad that it's aware of us now, what threat dose it pose?"

"They…the Faerie folk in general, that is-they know of me…a bit." The Doctor looks slightly sheepish.

"How?"

"About…oh, a few hundred years ago I stopped them taking a couple of changelings. And they like to hold grudges, do the little Folk. It's probably best," he stops Jenny's questions with an upraised hand "if we go back to the TARDIS and-"

"What?" Jenny blinks at him. Why did he want to retreat? Surely they needed more information about this situation? "But-you said the Púca is a threat, shouldn't we find a strategy to neutralise it?"

He stares at her. "Alright, Miss eager beaver, stand down. We can use the TARDIS to scan for any temporal distortions." He eyes her sideways. "no neutralizing required."

"Alright." She nods and starts back up the steps. How was she supposed to know? From what the Doctor said, the Púca was a threat, yet seemed to determined to not actually act on it.

Annoyed with himself, the Doctor strikes his forehead with the heel of his hand as he goes to follow her. Shouldn't have said it like that-that was patronising….was it? She was so eager to jump to strategies and combat-ty things-

"Uh, yes, what?" He looks up in surprise as he finds the next step blocked by Jenny, who is staring at him uncertainly.

"….Patronising what?" She asks slowly, looking at him likes he's mad (another story altogether), and the Doctor realizes he spoke his ramblings aloud.

"Oh. Um. Nothing!" He gins at her. "Carry on! You can help…scout."

"Okay…" She eyes him then turns and continues down the uneven flagstones-

-and it's like she missed another step. Jenny lurches, thrown off her balance, partly because it's suddenly pitch black. She stands, frozen and uncertain. The Doctor's voice next to her makes her start.

"…Ah. Well done, Jenny. You found the portal."

Jenny shuts her eyes, opens them, but it makes no difference. _Come on-orientate yourself, what are the variables_- The ground underfoot is no longer rock or grass. The pale sunshine, the breeze and the calls of birds have all vanished. The damp, musty-earth smell indicates they must be underground (Jenny has to work to keep down her panic at that thought).

"You alright there?" The Doctor asks, and Jenny realizes she unconsciously took a step to her right, where he was. A green light about level with her face makes her squint in surprise. It's the Doctor's instrument, lighting his face in a dim emerald wash.

"Fine." She replies steadily, annoyed at herself. "Where are we?"

"We accidentally crossed the temporal rift." he doesn't sound very concerned, answering her absently, as if he was busy thinking about something else. "We're in a souterrain."

"A what?"

"An underground passage, below a ring fort, or _rath_. Ancient defensive structures in Medieval Ireland…" he turns a slow circle beside her. The light of the screwdriver does not illuminate much, but he discovers when he tries to step backwards that there is a wall just behind them.

"…But we were on the Skellig…." Jenny settles for asking, lost by the rest of what he said. So far on this adventure with the Doctor, since they landed on the Skellig, Jenny has understood very little of the situation and what he tells her. She really doesn't like it. The Doctor is looking up now, and Jenny sees a roof not far over his head, made of long blocks of stone that are parallel to ground, stacked inward so the centre of the passage roof is higher than the outside, nearer the walls.

"Oh, it hasn't gone anywhere-we have. It displaces space as well as Time, oh those Púcas are tricky fellows!"

He swings the sonic to point down the narrow passage to his right, the stones grey and damp. Underfoot is damp earth, and tendrils of plant life in crevices between the wall and ceiling. The passage slopes down slightly, and goes well beyond the pale illumination of the sonic screwdriver.

"The Púca must just be using this souterrain as a physical means of disguise…That would take us out above ground, wherever this souterrain is." The Doctor turns to his right. "and behind us is presumably where we stumbled in. Do not touch that wall." He points at the wall directly in front of them.

She jerks away from it instinctively. "Why?"

"I think that's where the Púca came through from Tír na nÓg. Don't particularly want to cross over in case he decides to close it again. Then we'd be in a bit of bother." He brings the screwdriver up to his face to peer at it. "Okay…" he glances sideways to Jenny "Now we know where it is, we have to find the Púca. Okay, big steps back one, two-"

-and suddenly Jenny is on narrow stone steps, the sun in her eyes making her squint. She tilts suddenly, the ground dropping away.

"Woops-" The Doctor is somehow just….next to her again, tilting back on his heels to compensate his balance. Jenny turns to looks at the space just behind her. Just normal looking air. "No way…"

"Oh…." The Doctor says suddenly.

Jenny turns as the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

The black goat is standing there, above them on a ledge. It's even larger close up, the horns almost a foot long and curling back in a long spiral. Then Jenny looks at its face, and sees it's eyes are strangely luminescent. The colour is gold, but there is a darkness there. It surveys them silently for a long moment, then, even the Doctor said it was a shape shifter, Jenny still starts in surprise as it suddenly pulls itself up on it's haunches, and changes.

The forelegs lengthen, the hind legs stretching. The shaggy hair recedes with the horns, the hooves separate into fingers and hands. It takes only a moment, and then the Púca stands well over six feet tall. It's humanoid, but the limbs are just a little too long and thin, the hands elongated. The already narrow head has not broadened, and now those glowing eyes are too large in its chiseled face and horribly dark.

"It has been many centuries since I last saw you, traveller." The Púca's voice is deep with a guttural roll that is somehow also a hiss. It's hard to tell on that alien face, but he seems to appraise him.

"Yes, it has." The Doctor's voice is careful.

"Why do you come this sacred place, of all places? Do not think I have forgotten our last meeting."

"I haven't. And I was just leaving."

"Indeed." The Púca smiles a nasty smile of crooked teeth. "You knew what would happen if we met again, Ealchmar."

The Doctor stiffens. Jenny looks between them, wondering what the last word meant, but when he speaks, his voice is calm.

"From where I'm standing, that name fits you better than me."

The Púca snorts, eyes blazing with fury. "You dare! You interfered in our ways and destroyed our sacred places-"  
>The Doctor cuts across him, voice cold "You were <em>using<em> the Dullahan to destroy _innocent lives_. Lives, innocent or not you had no right to take!" The words soft and furious, his eyes flashing. "I would turn a blind eye to your ways when I had to, but you were going too far. Those _children_-"

The Puca laughs. It's almost a goat-like bark but chilling, like the grate of stones in a cold dark place.

"Yes, the children. Perhaps I should call you dagda instead; That is your child, is it not?" The Púca turns burning eyes on Jenny, dark and glittering. Jenny stubbornly tilts her chin and holds his gaze and a flash of irritation touches its face. "What is your name, girl?" His voice has dropped to a hiss now. "Perhaps not an infant, but young enough for a changeling by our standards, no? Certainly yours, traveller." Then he slowly reaches out to her with one long bony hand-

"_Enough_." The Doctor's voice is quiet, but rings with force. The Púca turns away from Jenny after a moment, slowly, as if it was far beneath him.

The Doctor steps nearer to him, frowning "Why are you even here?" he wonders, puzzled. "You say I have no right to be in this sacred place, okay, fine-but _this_," The Doctor swings an arm to point up to the Beehive huts, far above, "isn't even sacred to_ you_. It's a Christian design-" the Púca makes a faint growling noise in it's throat that is somehow derogatory.

"-Oh, don't you start." The Doctor says impatiently in response. "Faerie lore and worship, sun gods, the seasonal deities-it's all part of a Pagan belief system. Like it or not, some still consider that a _religion_, or used too."

"Now," all the time he has been speaking, the Púca has remained still and silent, but it's certainly not afraid, Jenny can see. Cold, other-worldly eyes watch the Doctor constantly. "You haven't answered my question; What are you doing here? They don't take children up here, you know."

The Púca just watches him, unblinking and silent.

"Oh…." The Doctor's eyebrows rise in realization. He chuckles dryly. "You think you can use adults. This is…an act of preservation-beliefs or a religious system are only exist as long as faith sustains them. You are part of a belief that is mostly uniquely to Ireland and there's no belief anymore-" The Doctor pauses mid-sentence, eyes widening. "…._Oh_."

Then he suddenly turns on his heel, eyes going to where the TARDIS is-and the Púca launches itself off the ledge towards them. 

…**.Dun dun duun! ;)**

**So, bit of a background note, and disclaimer I suppose.**

**-Aes sídhe (**_**ees-shee**_**) is the name for a supernatural race in Irish myths, or fairies. It literally means 'people of the mounds', living underground, in a invisible or parallel world depending on the literature or version of the stories. There are actually real Fairy mounds or 'forts' found all across Ireland, and there's old stories and superstitions about them, although they were probably originally from the first human settlers thousands of years ago. **

**-'Faerie' is an old, Irish version of 'fairy' that most people know.**

**-Púcas are "****considered to be bringers both of good and bad fortune, they could either help or hinder rural and marine communities. The creatures were said to be shape-changers which could take the appearance of black horses, goats and rabbits. They may also take a human form****". (Wikipedia).**

**-The Dullahan (from the Irish 'Gan Ceann' 'without a head'), is another character of Irish folklore, depicted as a headless rider on a black horse, or coach driver. When he stops riding, this is where a person is to die. **

**If you guys are super bored by all these long A/N's and not too interested in all my thought processes etc etc, yada yada yada, let me know! Won't be offended as long as your criticisms are constructive and positive. Thank you, please review! I have the next chapter completed, just have last edit-ings to do, but it should be up within a day or so!**


	3. Eireann Part 2

**2****nd**** part! **

**To Eireann Part 2**

With quick reflexes Jenny manages to duck, and the creature goes clean over her head with the strength of it leap, and touches ground on four goat hooves. It ducks it's head, great horns pointing out, but instead of going for the Doctor, it turns to Jenny, who realizes that she has the distinct disadvantage of this situation, as the only thing behind her is the cliff edge and is wondering is she can jump over it or feint to one side, when her father interrupts.

"Oh, now you've made me properly cross." The Doctor sighs, sounding reproachful, but when Jenny glances over at him, she's his eyes flash with true anger.

He holds the sonic screwdriver high and a pulse of sub-sonic sound jabs Jenny's ears, then seems to fade. But the Púca shudders, head twisting, then flings itself back up the ledge, managing a mutinous look despite it's goat face. The Doctor steps back to grab Jenny's arm and they run up the steep, uneven twisting stair carved into the hill.

"What's going on? What did we do to evoke the Púca like that?" Jenny wonders as the Doctor unlocks the TARDIS door and strides inside. Her legs are burning from the climb. He goes straight up to the console and pulls a hanging screen around to face him.

"We have to try and send the Púca back to Tír na nÓg. He wants to…use those people somehow."

"What, as a strategy or something?"

"No, no-_use_ them, influence them in some way, maybe. He's desperate, he's trying to….preserve himself and his race. They are beings of energy in a way, existing only as long as there is another energy-in this case, belief or faith to sustain them. Physically, at least. Like Tinkerbell." He pauses at Jenny's blank face. "Anyway, The Souterrain we stumbled into was how he got through; the Faerie folk can manipulate dimensions between universes, in this case, their world and the human world. One of only beings that can do that."

"What's the other?" The Doctor looks at her, then taps the side of his nose conspiratorially. Jenny grins.

She watches him then as he moves round to the opposite side of the console, pulling a lever and pressing buttons, biting back multitudes of questions, all the _how'_s and _why'_s crowding in her mind. But it would only waste valuable time needed to achieve their objective, although she decided to ask what a Tinkerbell was later. He's a different person to the Doctor she knew, yes, but_ everything_ this Doctor did seemed to be different, from one thing to the next . He was just so…._constant_. Expressions and emotions and topics of conversation changing with a pattern and speed Jenny can't figure out.

I want to ask a lot of things, she thinks suddenly, something rising in her as she watches the Doctor-_her father_-brown hair flopping into deep green eyes, his young but not-young face intense and focused, his strange clumsiness and co-ordination changed to more still and concise movements.

_Pursue the objective_-Jenny shakes her head as he realizes she is distracted. "So, what will you do?" and focuses on the task ahead.

"Not sure…" he suddenly whirls to look at her. "You're going to help."

"Can I? I don't have much knowledge of non-milit-"

"-You don't need any, I'll tell you. First thing…." He reaches inside his jacket and takes out the Sonic Screwdriver. Jenny pauses as she takes it.

"I thought you don't like weapons?" she hates how every time she seems to have assessed him, the Doctor goes and does something completely unexpected. Jenny hates getting it wrong.

"It's not, it's a…tool, an instrument." Jenny examines it curiously. It certainly isn't like anything else she had seen. Although she had so far only encountered weapons of the 23rd century in the two years since she left Messaline, Jenny's Military knowledge was incredibly vast. She knows about every from of weaponry there is, from the development of the bow and arrow in early history on Earth to the first carbonic alloy incendiary laser in the 45th Century, although she has never even seen either. She just…_knows_ that she knows about them. The essentials of guns remained the same. The Sonic screwdriver looks to be composed of a mixture of materials; a metal body and head, overlayed with a sort of ceramic to form a grip, copper edgings and a peculiar green crystal on the tip she did not recognise.

"See that button?" apart from an oval button halfway up the stem, there are no other settings of any kind. "Go out onto the terrace, and find that boat. Hold this button, point and think."

"Point and think?"

"It's a telepathic field-you want to know how far away the boat is and how long it will take to get here. We want the Púca gone before that."

He hands her back the sonic. What did he mean by that, though? What exactly did she think about when she used it?

Jenny asks instead "What if the Púca tries to engage me?" She's not bothered, but he hasn't told her anything about potential weaknesses or tactics for such a creature.

"He won't touch you." the Doctor looks vaguely nonplussed by her choice of words. "He won't like to get too close to the TARDIS anyway."

"Okay." Jenny tells him, and turns for the doors.

"Right…"

Tír na nÓg, or the land of Eternal Youth, was one of those rare places which existed on it's own plane of time and space, but was not a separate or parallel universe a fact that had fascinated and perplexed the Doctor for a long time. Time was not non-existent, it just didn't…pass. The home of the Faerie folk was a land of perpetual present-no future, no past, just the now. There were tales and lore warned of people of becoming enticed by faerie song-all the Sídhe are beautifully gifted musicians, changelings taken by malicious figures and never being seen from again originated from the very occasional, unfortunate souls who had stumbled into Tír na nOg, over the millennia. All time outside continued to proceed, but in Tír na nÓg, a year would feel like an hour,

"Aha, there you are…" Pulling up a temporal map of the rock, the Doctor could clearly see the bridge between Skellig Michael and Tír na nÓg the Púca had created. The difficulty was closing it, with the Púca on the other side.

He looks up as Jenny comes back with the Sonic. "Well done."

"I think I got it."

He takes it from her and flicks the clawed top open. "Yes, you did, thank you. We have about….40 minutes before that boat gets here." he turns back to the map.

"How did you do that? Get the reading?"

"Psychic wavelengths. Wouldn't work for you though, I'd have to re configure it."

Jenny is about to ask why, but stops herself. Plenty of time for questions later. They had a window now, the objective had to be completed.

"Can we use the TARDIS to close the…gap in time?"

He smiles at her. She's sharp. "Good thinking, but no. It's a fracture in time, but also space. And bringing the TARDIS into Tír na nÓg wouldn't be a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because it exists completely on it's own track, time doesn't pass there at all. If we were to cross to Tír na nÓg, I'd need the TARDIS here, in normal time, so I have something to work against, judge how much time is passing. Now, I can use the TARDIS to close the gap. She's essentially a sort of massive space-time event, so I anchor time here for just a second down to Tír na nÓg time, and the gap can seal." He turns to his daughter and claps his hands.

'Let's go catch Mr Billy Goat Gruff!"

* * *

><p>They step out, and the Púca is there waiting for them, in humanoid form this time.<p>

"So," The Doctor steps forward from Jenny's side. "You get a choice. I'm good like that." He spreads his hands. "One, you cross back over to your own realm, and I leave here, and never set foot on it's sacred surface ever again. Two, if you refuse to return, I'll close the gap, and you won't be able to cross back."

The Púca snorts disdainfully. "You can close it, but you cannot prevent me from returning, now or whenever I wish. You do not have that power."

"I don't, no." He pauses. "But Aengus owes me a favour. He would prevent you from returning, if I asked him. Don't make me." The Doctor's tone has changed suddenly and the Púca pauses. Jenny watches curiously. She's never seen a conflict successfully alleviated by talking and despite the fact the Púca has a good two feet in height on him, the Doctor is radiating a confidence which makes it irrelevant.

The Faerie's eyes glitter. "I choose to remain here, you can't protect your precious little humans."

"Well, I could actually. They get it wrong or miss things, but they are doing their best to preserve this place. I can dig up a few red flags, maybe in the archaeology and biodiversity, and they'd stop sending people here all together. Bit of work that, though, and you should see their faces when they come up here! Shame to ruin their fun."

He has been polite and genial, but there is an edge in his posture now, suggesting he's losing patience. The first option would most effective outcome for this situation, so Jenny is puzzled then when he softens suddenly.

"Your people recognise change in the world that can't be changed back, hiding away and leaving the humans to their lives." Her father pockets the Sonic and walks back to Jenny. "They are disappearing, Balor. I suggest you do the same. That breach _will be closed_, with or without you back in Tír na nÓg"

The Púca pulls back and abruptly shifts, the form gone, and the goat flicks his head, aiming those wicked horns in the Doctor's direction, anger in the gesture, but he moves no closer. The Doctor turns to point the Sonic warningly "-Or I'll send the Dagda and the Tuatha after you!"

Still the Púca makes no sound or movement, then turns and leaps away to the left-down to the point, Jenny thinks, where the entrance to Tír na nÓg is.

"Good choice."The Doctor watches mutters, raising the Sonic Screwdriver.

And everything stops.

Everything is silent, the breeze, the booming rush of the waves, faint far below, the cries of the gulls. The breeze is…gone, tendrils of jenny's hair simply bent back from her face. A bird, just skimming over the beehive huts. Jenny can see the feathers spread wide in it's wing, as it hangs suspended in a banking turn.

It's just a second, Everything frozeb like a pause in a film, a skipped groove on an old record-then with a closing rush of air and a shimmer like a heat haze, the Púca is gone, and Time resumes.

* * *

><p>Jenny watches the Doctor as he moves around the console of the TARDIS, sat in the pilot seat. She smiles involuntarily as the shuddering wheeze of the engine sets the glass central column in motion. The Doctor sees, and Jenny is stilled by the delight on his face as he watches her.<p>

"What's the Dagda?" she wonders, remembering.

"He's the high god or father of the Faerie folk. Tír na nÓg is their native land."

"And the…tootha?"

"The _Tuatha de Dannan_ are an ancient family. Figures of hospitality, warriors, smiths in the legends and tales. And Aengus Óg is the Dagda's son. God of love, and mischief. I helped him out a while ago. They are good allies to have, Faeries, when you get on their good side. They repay their debts. I could go to Aengus in a millennia and he would uphold what he owes me."

Jenny mulls this over. "What did you do to help him?"

"Oh, I fixed a Temporal Rift over the Hill of Tara. It was mucking up time in Tir na-" the Doctor catches himself at the sight of Jenny's blank face. She didn't even know what a temporal rift _is_-oh, it really was right back to the basics-

"Anyway, it's a long story, I'll tell you another time. But _now_!" Why did he not show her this earlier? She needed and eye-opening. She was going to love it. The Doctor dashes around the console to take her out of her seat by the hands.

He beams at his daughter "You thought _that _was good. Wait until you see _this_." And he pulls down a lever, the ship settles with a thump.

"What?" Jenny watches her father as he turns again and leaps down the steps to dash to the doors and stand with his hands on the latch. He beckons to her madly.

"What is it?" she finds a grin stretching her own face now as she joins him.

"Anything you want it to be, Jenny." He is suddenly serious again, gazing at her with something earnest and heavy in his green eyes. His tone somehow suggests he is promising something, something to her. Transfixed, she watches him.

"_Everthing_ and _anything._ All right here." And the Doctor pulls the doors open and steps to one side.

Jenny just stands and stares, a million, billion stars reflecting in her eyes and her hair silvered with their light. For a full minute, she is rooted in silence.

"It's-It's just…." She shakes her head as she turns to him in awe "I can't believe it's _real_." She breathes.

The Doctor laughs, and has to reach out to take her by the shoulder-_his daughter seeing the stars_-and grins at her.

"Go on, then."

"What?"

"Go out. Climb up and sit on the roof."

"Wh-but it's _space_-there's no air or gravity or anything."

"Doesn't matter, the TARDIS has extended a gravitational field and air pocket. Go on!"

Jenny stares at him for a moment, uncertainty faded by excitement. She steps right to the threshold and looks out, the countless reflecting stars turning her blue eyes silvery. The she turns to look up. With a jump, she catches the top of the door and pulls herself up. A wide smile slowly stretches over the Doctor's face as he hauls himself up to sit next to her, perched on the flat ledge before the roof slopes up the lantern atop it.

"I'm in _space_…" Jenny breathes, as if she it still trying to make herself believe it. She turns to grin at the Doctor, a sudden delighted laugh and she all but bounces on the spot. "Thank you, father! It's so incredible…"

"It is."

She stares upwards, head tilted back and mouth agape, her face soft and bright with wonder. The Doctor watches her silently, riveted suddenly in his own astonishment, something warm in his chest. _Jenny._ "You are so very welcome, daughter."

"But…this is what you do? You have all of space and time. And you go everywhere, and do…what, exactly? Repair gaps in time like today?" Jenny turns to watch her father then as he seems to consider the question.

"Well, yes, I travel. Discovering, learning new things is one of the reasons why. And sometimes, I help in places that need it. But what I do isn't all there is, Jenny." He glances at her. "Just as your military knowledge isn't all that _you_ are. Or what you can be."

She nods slowly. "But…how do you…_know_ so much? I mean, there must be thousands of stars here,"

"Oh, trillions." He nods.

She looks out again "….and planets and worlds…But you knew all that stuff about Irish history and beliefs…." She suddenly turns to look at him, face bright with a realization "and on Orion, you knew all about those generals, and the consequences of what could happen to them…How do you _know_ all that?"

He can't help a chuckle. "Well, I have been travelling for a very long time. I've seen a lot, learned a lot…when I started, yes I did know a lot less, but I was….educated for a long time before I even set foot in a TARDIS."

"When did you start? Have you ever been back to your planet? "

He hesitates-but a reply to that would lead to more questions he didn't want to answer. "I can point out some stars to you if you like." The Doctor says instead, and smiles when Jenny's eyes light up.

He finds one of the easier 'landmarks' and points, then brings Jenny's hand up with his so she can find it. "You see that sort of band of stars , brighter and closer together? That's Mutter's Spiral, or the humans call it the Milky way….."

* * *

><p>Side by side, on a tiny blue box in the glittering vastness of space, father and daughter gaze at the stars. If sound could travel there, the Doctor's laugh would have rolled out among the nebulas when his daughter exclaims in surprise,<p>

"Oh look! I didn't notice there was a light on top! Do you ever have to change the bulb?"

**A/N; The Tuatha de Danann, (**_**toohay de dan-nay)**_** or people of the Goddess Danu, are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and were thought to be worshipped as deities. **

**Balor, or the deadly one, was a figure in Irish mythology,**

**Ealchmar, the Evil One, belonged to the Tuatha race. (In some stories, he was Chief Steward to the Dagda)**

**The Skelligs and all the details mentioned in here are true. The Doctor's jibe about people preserving it came from it being a UNESCO World Heritage site. **

**Sídhe musicians-There are also many pieces of traditional Irish music today, especially the older ones, that have origins believed to arise from sounds heard in nature, or musicians and fishermen hearing strange music oron quiet days out at sea. **

**Aannd (nearly done, promise), changelings are children which were taken by faeries from their cradles, and replaced with Faerie children.**

**Please review, it really helps my motivation! I do have the next two chapters mapped out/nearly done, so hopefully they'll be up within two weeks ish.**

**..btw sorry ****about the horizontal lines, cannot get my single line breaks and it's driving me demented!**

**Grá,**

**TheSoul.**


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